Cool Rics on eBay / Reverb / Craigslist

[ilan]

On one hand, the seller says he was told by the original owner that it was a custom order. On the other hand, this bass was made 6 years before BB was officially offered, as CotY.

So it could be a refin, or a custom order as a tribute to the original Blue Boys gunpowder-blue Rics with their gold-backed guards. Or maybe, who knows, a factory one-off, a test that has led to BB as 2004 CotY.

Either way, awesome IMHO.

The horseshoes are bent upwards, like 60's horseshoes and like recent production RIHS's. In '98 they were flat.

[Dave W]

Paul, that makes the most sense to me.

[SeanS]

Interesting, as all the V63's and the CS's have a scratchplate that extends very close to outer edge of the body around the jack area and above, this one hasn't and is more like they should be. Never could work out why they did this as it didn't fit any part of the history of the bass.

[ilan]

Pinstripe... I love them. This one is from 1978. It precedes the Shadow by eight years.

On the registration card it says 4001BT. So before the 80's black hardware option, they referred to black guard/TRC basses as Black Trim although this one has chrome hardware and white neck binding.

Tons of pics like every item by Olivia's.

[gearHed289]

Good looking bass, and not a bad price for Olivia's.

[Dave W]

Good looking bass, and not a bad price for Olivia's.

Yes it is. Olivia's is often higher than individual sellers but they really aren't bad at all for a retailer.

[ilan]

The familiar neck crack must have an effect on value. But I love the look and the relative rarity.

[ilan]

Not a big fan of the non-4000 basses, but this '92 FG 2050 is very pretty

[Dave W]

Never could get excited about the looks and didn't like the wide necks. Above all, though, they really didn't have a Rick sound.

[ilan]

4003SPC Blackstar - listed as "Rickenbacker 4 String Bass" - seller is a pawnshop, probably has no clue.

[Highlander]

Seller has a reserve...?

What do you reckon she's worth, Ilan...?

[nofi]

after ebay had been around a few years american pawn shops all became 'experts' concerning guitars. the sweet deal became almost impossible to find. your results may vary.

[Dave W]

Enough people will recognize it for what it is. Ought to bring 2K, maybe a little more.

[ilan]

I'm thinking $3K+ but I could be wrong. They used to sell for $4-5K but these days are gone and this Blackstar is pretty beat up.

[Hörnisse]

I don't know.  The back looks pretty good from here.......